Manhattan prosecutors are asking a judge to prevent former President Trump from disseminating evidence in his hush money criminal case publicly after his lawyers declined to consent to such an agreement, according to court filings.
Prosecutors are arguing a protective order, which would place rules on how Trump can use evidence prosecutors turn over to him during discovery, is needed given his history of attacking those involved in legal proceedings against him.
At Trump’s arraignment earlier this month, Assistant District
Attorney Catherine McCaw indicated prosecutors were negotiating such an
order with his legal team and were “very close to agreement and finalizing
the language.”
But those talks have apparently broken down.
“Initially,
the People sought to negotiate the terms of a protective order with defense
counsel,” McCaw wrote to the judge this week.
“Defense counsel
has since indicated that they will not consent to a protective order, so the
People are now moving for such an order,” she continued.
Trump
attorney Susan Necheles told The Hill the former president will file a
response next week.
“We haven’t resolved anything yet,” Joe
Tacopina, another attorney representing Trump in the case, told The Hill
earlier this month when asked about the negotiations.
Beyond keeping the discovery private, prosecutors are also
hoping to prevent Trump from viewing the evidence when his lawyers aren’t
present. They further want to redact the names of certain district attorney
staff from the materials until a trial begins and require Trump to get
consent from prosecutors before he can see forensic images of witness
cellphones.
Manhattan prosecutors noted Trump’s attacks about the
past probe into Russia’s election interference in the 2016 election, the
current federal investigations into Jan. 6, 2021, the mishandling of
government records at Mar-a-Lago, and the probe by Georgia authorities over
Trump’s effort to influence the election there.
“This pattern, particularly given that Defendant is currently
under federal investigation for his handling of classified materials, gives
rise to significant concern that Defendant will similarly misuse grand jury
and other sensitive materials here,” McCaw wrote.
Trump’s legal
team is expected to leverage the materials as they prepare a motion to
dismiss the indictment. But prosecutors said at Trump’s arraignment they
wanted a protective order before handing any of it over.
